The 393-room Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel has found a new owner,sort of.
Strategic Hotels & Resorts Inc., a real estate investment trust, on Wednesday said it’s buying the hotel from Chicago’s Strategic Hotel Capital LLC, a related privately held company, for $330 million.
The deal, set to close in July, will take the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel from the privately held unit to ownership under the publicly traded hotel owner.
In 2004, Strategic Hotel Capital created two entities under its name: Strategic Hotel Capital LLC, the privately held unit, and Strategic Hotels & Resorts, the publicly-traded REIT. When it created the two entities, it kept seven hotels, including the Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel, under its privately held portfolio.
After the deal closes, Strategic Hotels & Resorts expects the hotel to provide $23 million to $24 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization in its first year of ownership.
Ritz-Carlton Laguna Niguel opened in 1984. It was acquired by Strategic in 1997 from Prudential Financial Inc. as part of a five-hotel deal.
The hotel last summer completed a $40 million renovation that included the addition of a full-service spa.
As part of the deal, Strategic Hotels & Resorts is set to take on $8.5 million in debt.
In addition, Strategic Resorts & Hotels said it is selling its Marriott Rancho Las Palmas Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage to KSL RLP Holdings LLC for $56 million. The deal also is set to close in July.
